Ticks

Another problem when you are out in the woods is that there are usually ticks out there. Like leeches, you are not supposed to just pull a tick out of your skin. Touching them with something hot works well, but they re so small that you have to be very careful or you will also burn yourself while trying to burn the tick.

Because they are so tiny, it is easy to have ticks crawling around on you and not know it. Some areas are worse for ticks than other areas of the country, and when I was in Missouri, there were just a lot of ticks everywhere. Before bed at night, checking all over for ticks was a nightly thing.

Dogs and horses can get ticks, too; so when you have your pets along with you, you need to check them over for ticks as well. Obviously, you can't take a match and burn ticks off of the dog or horse; but I have found that spraying the tick with isopropyl alcohol will usually result in the tick backing out of the skin so that you can remove it from yourself or your pet. It also helps to sterilize the bite; so that is a good thing as well.

 

Thanks for the intel @happyflowerlady, I was not aware of the isopropyl alcohol. I've only done the match trick. I use that on my dogs too. Match and tweezers. Great information though. I'll remember the alcohol trick in case of ticks.

 

The issue of course is Lyme's disease that was introduced to the North American scene. I remember years ago getting a warning notice about Lyme's disease in British Columbia (our far western Province). Since that time it has spread and is now just about everywhere.

It is a situation that one incorporates preventative measures and to respond and by checking one's body. *I do that at the end of the day unless there is an issue. As happyflowerlady points out, animals such as dogs are susceptible, and in my case, my dog Reese sleeps with me and he's a big Labrador Retriever.

I do not recommend burning off any thing but rather use the recommended methodology. Our first aid kit contains items that are helpful. [Tweezers, alcohol wipes, magnifier, gloves etc.] You can now purchase mini tick kits.

What to do if a tick bites you -

• Remove the tick promptly and carefully. Use tweezers to grasp the tick near its head or mouth and pull gently to remove the whole tick without crushing it.
• If possible, seal the tick in a container. Your doctor may want to see the tick if you develop signs or symptoms of illness after a tick bite.
• Use soap and water to wash your hands and the area around the tick bite after handling the tick.
• Or alcholol wipes.

See your doctor if you develop:

• A rash
• A fever
• A stiff neck
• Muscle aches
• Joint pain and inflammation
• Swollen lymph nodes
• Flu-like symptoms
• Light sensitivity to the eyes or skin (photo sensitivity)

If possible, bring the tick with you to your doctor's appointment.

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* There are occasions that we use the buddy system. You have a trusted buddy check your back. We use the buddy system for winter camps and your buddy watches for weather related conditions in you as you are watching him. In groups with young people swimming the buddy system is mandatory for added safety.
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Hi, I'm back again.

 

Another interesting and affordable way to get rid of ticks and fleas on your dog is with diatomaceous earth. This is a white flour-like powder that comes from diatom skeletons. The powder looks and feels a lot like plain old white flour; but it actually has sharp little pieces and these will pierce the tick or flea and kill it by dehydration. One very beneficial thing about DE is that it is a natural substance, so it is not harmful to either people or pets.

In fact, it adds minerals from the diatoms, so it is actually a healthy substance. Most of the flea and tick repellents are actually toxic to our pets, and they kill the tick or fleas by being poisoned from the dog's toxic blood. You can also add the DE to your pet's food and it will kill any tapeworms that the dog has acquired from the fleas. It only takes about a teaspoon in their food to help rid your pet of these unfriendly pests.

http://wolfcreekranch1.tripod.com/diatomaceous_earth_fleas.html

 

I use a product called Revolution for Reese once a month. Of all the products that I have used this has been the best one for him.

 

That's the one. I've used the juice (drops) in the past but they proved ineffective. He gets the stuff from April through to November. Before we leave for the north Reese also gets a shot to protect him against water parasites. I started doing that after we came home from a trip and I noticed that he was developing a bald spot on his back. The mighty Nith River not only cooled him off but gave him something to take home.

 

Vaseline.
Half hour wait.
Tweezers.
'Nuff said.

 

Yes...I've used that method too.

 

Yep. Ticks breathe through openings on the underside of their bodies near their hind legs. Suffocates 'em.

 

That is interesting, MacGyver (love the screen-name, by the way!). I had never thought about how those little pests could breathe with their head buried under your skin; but what you are saying makes perfect sense.
Maybe that is why they will usually let go when you are pinching the body with your fingers and slowly pulling on the tick. That would probably be sufficating to them , too.

When I lived in Missouri, and went out in the woods fishing and horseback riding a lot; checking for ticks was part of the daily routine.
My neighbor lady showed me how to make a little "whisk-broom" from a small cedar branch, and that would take off the seed ticks before they had a chance to burrow in.
You just kind of swatted it over your arms and legs where the ticks might have gotten on to you from bushes, and the sharp little cedar needles would scrape the ticks off as long as they were not embedded.

 

There was never a tick problem while camping in Hawaii. I guess we're lucky on that one. But yeah, the old vaseline tricks works to suffocate them and then extract them when they come up for air.

 

Interesting - what would be the camping nasties in Hawaii?

 

Here is central NY we have had an awful problem with ticks in the past couple of years. Where you can't go out into the woods without getting at least of them on you. I live in a suburban town and my brother has pulled off many ticks from his dogs. And they are just in his backyard. It really bite when you are scared to go do some of your favorite things like hiking through the woods for the fear of getting many ticks on you. Ticks love to live in piles of leaves and love to hang out on the edges of things. Like leaves and a side walk. I luckily have never had one on me and I hope I never do.

 

I never knew what ticks were until we moved to tennessee. We lived in northern Michigan and there was 7 of us kids, and we stayed outside, loved it to. Never met a tick till we moved here in east tennessee. The horror us kids had when we discovered these crawling, sucking, creeper arachnids. The snakes were bad enough. Yeh Yeh I know I am a wuss.

I never knew there were ticks any further north till I was older, and I heard people at work talk about them when they would go up that way hunting. I asked my dad about it "a great outdoorsman not scared of anything except a granddaughter" he said he didn't see any around where we lived in that part of Michigan. Us kids played in the woods all the time and never seen one, no kidding.

Hey its morale mushroom time in these parts. I need to get out and find some. Yummy yum.

 

Well maybe little to early for shroooms I think. I posted my afternoon adventure under "trails section".

 

No magnifying glass. This was in the early 70's, so we played outside alot. We only got three channels on the tv, and I think I have the pair of pliers that dad used to hit the side of the tv cabinet to stop the picture from flipping. We built forts in the woods with old dead trees. I remember one time, I might have been 4 or so, my older brothers took off into the woods with out me, so I tried to follow, and stepped on a yeller jackets nest. I stood there and screamed and swatted at em. My oldest brother, being the athlete he was, came sprinting through the woods, and grabbed me up like a sack of taters, and carried to the house. Yeah I know, I was a stupid little kid.

Anyhow I lived in Gaylord Michigan till I was 10 and don't remember ever seeing or anyone getting a tick on them. Now I live in Tennessee, married a born and bred hillbilly girl. The ticks down here are so big that they just tug on your pants leg, and expect a lift to your neck line.

 

God I hate ticks. "Burning" them with a match is not the recommended method of removal - rather, you should pull them out with tweezers. See here: Tick Removal | Ticks | CDC

Don't know about alcohol, but in this day and age of Lyme Disease, I always store removed ticks in a small container filled with alcohol and then put in the freezer for a few weeks. If there are any Lyme-like symptoms, you can then submit the suspect ticks for testing.

 

...I just follow the manufacturers/health people's recommendations. There are here to stay.